Hell Is for Heroes
1962 Directed by Don Siegel
Synopsis
The brutal realities that faced every G.I. during World War II
World War II drama where the action centers around a single maneuver by a squad of GIs in retaliation against the force of the German Siegfried line. Reese joins a group of weary GIs unexpectedly ordered back into the line when on their way to a rest area. While most of the men withdraw from their positions facing a German pillbox at the far side of a mine-field, half a dozen men are left to protect a wide front. By various ruses, they manage to convince the Germans that a large force is still holding the position. Then Reese leads two of the men in an unauthorized and unsuccessful attack on the pillbox, in which the other two are killed; and when the main platoon returns, he is threatened with court-martial. Rather that face the disgrace, and in an attempt to show he was right, he makes a one-man attack on the pillbox.
Cast
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What a strange cast for a WWII film. The headliner is Steve McQueen as the gruff, cynical, and introverted soldier. Then toss in a bit of James Colburn and you are well on your way to making a great war picture. Now add singer Bobby Darin, and all I could think about was the Johnny Fontain scene from THE GODFATHER. Now here's the kicker, place Bob Newhart in the film for comedic relief. There are quite a few other supporting players that all perform reasonably well.
The story is about a worn down troup of soldiers that thought they were home bound only to find out that they have to go back onto the lines. Soon after getting there, all…
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61/100
Slight, though it doesn't start out like it will be. The opening scene with the group of soldiers interacting in the bombed out town seems to be setting up a neat ensemble drama of wasted lives near the end of the war, but then McQueen turns up and it becomes more streamlined and less interesting.
The ending, though, is somewhat unexpected and quite powerful in retrospect.
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What a strange cast for a WWII film. The headliner is Steve McQueen as the gruff, cynical, and introverted soldier. Then toss in a bit of James Colburn and you are well on your way to making a great war picture. Now add singer Bobby Darin, and all I could think about was the Johnny Fontain scene from THE GODFATHER. Now here's the kicker, place Bob Newhart in the film for comedic relief. There are quite a few other supporting players that all perform reasonably well.
The story is about a worn down troup of soldiers that thought they were home bound only to find out that they have to go back onto the lines. Soon after getting there, all…
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Did Siegel go through all of this just to have Bob Newhart do his phone routine in a war movie?
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Don Siegel’s only war movie is an interesting ensemble piece about a small platoon that find themselves left behind in a area they must defend by convincing the Germans that they are a much larger squad than they actually are. It’s a great conceit, and leads to all kinds of prank-like trickery, including making a backfiring jeep sound like a tank, creating noises all over the battlefield with boxes strung up on wires, and spinning yarns on the phone for a discovered Nazi bug (this last one allows Bob Newhart to adapt his stand-up routine). It’s not Siegel’s best work, and the stark black and white cinematography is sometimes so dark you can’t quite tell what’s happening, but it’s a nicely told, fun and gritty film with a great ending.